Hot Blooded (Wolf Springs Chronicles) - By Nancy Holder Page 0,54
but think about the Cordelia and Mike contest on her first day of school.
“So, the most important thing to know about the pack is that as the bottom member you have to be subservient, you have to drop your eyes when someone is talking to you and make sure to give them those ‘ma’ams’ and ‘sirs’. You have to be quiet and polite and respectful to everyone.”
“See, I have a hard time seeing that happen,” Katelyn said, struggling to keep the sarcasm out of her voice as she worked her chin-ups.
“Those are the rules, Kat. Being bottom-ranking sucks.”
“So, how do I move on up?” she asked.
“Just like the rest of the world. You marry up or fight your way up tooth and nail.”
“No way!”
“Well, Kat, sometimes you have to fight. And sooner or later you’ll understand that.”
She was thinking of hitting Mike and realized that Justin had missed her point. “I meant marry up. I’m not doing that.”
She heard a chuckle and glanced down. “What’s so funny?”
“The fact that you think you have a choice.”
She let herself drop back to the ground, bending her knees to cushion her fall. She suppressed the urge to throw her arms backward when she had stuck the landing.
“What do you mean?” she asked. She thought of some of Cordelia’s diary entries, about her dad telling her he’d choose her mate.
“Everyone marries in the pack, and younger than you’re probably used to, being from California. It’s your duty.”
“I’m not marrying a werewolf,” she said.
He gave his head a weary shake. “You’re not going to have a choice about that. In fact, it’s likely you won’t even have a choice as to which werewolf. These things can be complicated and given how you came to be here . . . Uncle Lee will probably be choosing your mate.” He flushed slightly and glanced away. She wondered why. Was he jealous? She wondered again if his uncle had arranged his romance with Lucy.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I’m not.”
“I won’t do it.”
“We’ll see,” he said, effectively shutting down the conversation. “Now, jump to the next branch over, the one that’s a foot higher.”
An hour later Justin declared that training was over for the day. They headed back to the house and reached it just as Jesse trotted from around the back. He was holding a mud-encrusted action figure in one hand and a gardening trowel in the other.
“Hi, Kat, hi,” Jesse said, hurrying up to her and giving her a kiss on her cheek, as all the pack were supposed to do. She kissed him back, and he giggled. “Did you marry Justin now? Because then I can marry Lucy.”
“Justin is going to marry Lucy,” Katelyn said carefully.
“My Uncle Lee says you’re going to get married,” he reported, nodding seriously at her. “He says you need a man.”
“He— he did?” Aghast, she stared at him, then at the Fenners’ house, where the alpha was.
“When you get married, I can wear my suit. You should stay for dinner. Lucy says I can have a drumstick. You can have the other one.” Jesse looked past her and waved. “Hi, little brother.” He cracked up. “Did you kiss Kat?”
“No, sir,” Justin said.
“You should kiss her cheek. We don’t kiss strangers but Kat is not a stranger.”
“I’ll kiss her next time.”
“See you later,” Katelyn managed, hurrying toward her Subaru. Then, lightning fast, Justin was beside her with his hand wrapped around her forearm.
“You need to say goodbye to the alpha,” he said. “Show respect.”
She looked up at him. “Justin, he’s talking about me getting married. I’m a senior in high school! Did you know about this while we were talking in the forest?”
“No, but I’m not surprised.”
“I’m not getting married.”
“All you need to do right now is say goodbye,” he reminded her. “Don’t stir the pot when you don’t have a spoon.”
“Oh, that’s so quaint,” she flung at him. If she saw Mr. Fenner, and he told her he wanted her to get married—
“Kat, I’ve got your back,” he said quietly. “Just go say goodbye.”
He walked her to the front door and it opened before she could turn the knob. Arial, one of Cordelia’s older sisters, stood on the threshold with her arms tightly crossed. Her blonde hair had been pinned up in a messy bun, but one section had come free and coiled loosely around her shoulder, as if she’d been doing something physical. She looked warily at Katelyn, then visibly relaxed just a little when she shifted her attention to Justin.